"It is not a big surprise. The increase is very limited in month on month and year on year terms"
- Maxime Botteron from Credit Suisse
Producer price index in Switzerland advanced more than initially expected in September, the Swiss Federal Statistical Office reported on Monday. Swiss PPI rose 0.4% last month from a year ago, while on a monthly basis, producer prices added 0.1%. At the same time, nation's import prices were up 0.8%, as a result of government's decision to put a cap of 1.20 per euro on the franc last September.
"It is not a big surprise. The increase is very limited in month on month and year on year terms. Most of the increase is due to higher import prices on which the SNB hasn't got much influence. It won't change our outlook for monetary policy. We still expect the SNB to focus on the exchange rate," said Maxime Botteron from Credit Suisse.
"There is a slight tendency higher to a positive area. However, this doesn't mean the SNB has reason to act. It simply means the 1.20 floor installed over one year ago has succeeded in warding off the threat of a deflationary spiral," said David Marmet, an economist at Zuercher Kantonalbank.
The Swiss blue-chip index SMI, a measure of the largest and most actively traded companies, advanced 0.74 per cent to 6,704.21. The broader Swiss Performance Index rose 0.63 per cent to 6,178.03.
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